Out of the Darkness
by goose29
Summary: What happens when there is a blackout in the city where the BAU is investigating? Just a quick one-shot inspired by having nothing to do during a blackout.


**Out of the Darkness**

Suddenly, the whole room was plagued in darkness. JJ stood still, afraid to move in the unfamiliar surroundings. She heard the police officers reaching for their flashlights, the first flicker of light breaking JJ from her trance. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her own flashlight. It was a comfort in the darkness, the control she yielded over the flashlight. In that brief moment of total darkness, JJ had been reminded how much she took for granted – and how much in her life she could not control. Something as basic as light – allowing one to see inches in front of one's face – it was a gift she was not grateful for enough. At times like these she found comfort in the things which she could control – things like her flashlight.

As she flicked it on, she felt a timid hand grab hold of hers. Turning to her left, she saw a frightened Reid. It was then that she remembered he was still afraid of the dark.

** Flashback – Season 2 Episode 6 "The Boogeyman"

JJ: Come on, I don't know why I'm afraid of the woods. I just…I am. Why is he [Reid] still afraid of the dark?  
Morgan: Yeah Reid, why are you still afraid of the dark?

Reid: Because of the inherent absence of light.

"Spence," JJ began slowly. "Turn on your flashlight."

"Oh, right, yeah," he responded. Reaching into his pocket without letting go of JJ's hand, Reid carefully extracted his flashlight and turned it on.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked, moving closer to him, so she could whisper the next bit in his ear "I know you're still scared of the dark."

"No, no I'm fine" Reid lied … obviously.

"Um…" JJ left the sentence open-ended but glanced down at his hand, still desperately clutching her own.

"Oh – uh – sorry, JJ" he replied nervously, embarrassed that he had allowed himself to be so vulnerable in front of his teammate.

"Power's out all over the city," announced a uniformed police office who had just burst through the door of the rural NY police department.

At the announcement, both Reid and JJ looked up for the first time. The room was filled with small clusters of light emanating from flashlights and extending a few feet before being engulfed by the darkness.

"Traffic lights are on auxiliary power generators and should be able to stay on for at least a couple of hours. Nonetheless, I'm calling all the local radio stations and making sure they tell listeners to stay in their homes and off the roads if possible. Leave them open for emergency personnel. Guys, this is going to be a long night. Miles, get on your cell and see if the power company can get you an ETA of how long they expect this to last."

The statement, made by the chief of police, gave JJ an idea.

"Come on," she said to Reid, as she grabbed his hand and maneuvered their way towards the door.

"JJ – where are we going?" Reid said with a mixture of curiosity, concern, and fear of moving in the dark he was so afraid of.

"Just trust me, okay?" JJ said with conviction.

"O…K…" Reid replied, very unsure.

JJ dragged Reid out of the precinct and down the street a few blocks. Reid was too nervous to pay attention to where they were going. Instead, he focused all his concentration on JJ's blonde hair, illuminating the comforting sight with his flashlight. To be honest, though, being on the street wasn't as bad as he had thought. There was a bit of **excess** glow coming from the traffic lights and the beams of the passing cars. In fact, it was almost brighter here than it had been in the police station. _"But where is she taking me?"_ Reid thought to himself.

Finally, JJ stopped and turned into a big building. Reid moved closer to JJ, squeezing her hand and shutting his eyes, anticipating the all encompassing darkness to come, wondering why JJ was torturing him like this.

"Open your eyes" JJ said, comfortingly.

Reid just shook his head "no," like a scared little boy at a horror film.

"Its ok Reid, really. There's nothing for you to be scared of here."

Slowly, Reid opened his eyes and found he was in a room which was marginally lit. He looked around and then up at JJ, confused.

"The hospital," JJ explained. "I remembered they have some lights on the generators so they can see to treat patients – especially up here in the surgical wing. I thought you might be less scared here."

"Thanks Jayj" he replied, exhaling for the first time since the power outage.

RING RING RING!

"Agent Jareau."

"Jayj, its Emily. I'm assuming the power is out where you are too?"

"Yeah," JJ replied. "Are you and Morgan okay?"

"We're fine. Just checking in on you. Morgan wants me to ask you how Reid is." This last bit she said somewhat unsure of what/why she was asking.

"Tell Morgan he's okay," JJ replied with a smile. "I took him to the surgical wing of the hospital because they have some lights on their auxiliary generator. It definitely calmed him down."

"Now don't tell me Reid's still afraid of the dark," Emily exclaimed.

With a wink at Reid, JJ replied "The inherent absence of light, actually."

This made both women giggle for a moment.

"Okay Emily, you guys stay where you are for now. Let me check in with Hotch and see what he wants us to do and I'll call you back."

"Sure thing. Good luck with the scardy-cat."

"Thanks."

Click.

"Hotch, its JJ. Did you and Rossi loose power too?"

"Not yet, we're still in the car. But its out all around us."

"Its out in the whole city. Prentiss and Morgan just checked in. I told them to stay still until I checked with you. What do you want to do?"

"Have everyone remain where they are. Hopefully this won't take too long to repair and we can get back to work. I'll check back with you in an hour."

"Okay, thanks Hotch."

Click.

After relaying Hotch's directions back to Emily, JJ was about to turn her attention to Reid when her phone rang again.

"Agent Jareau."

"Angelfish! Are you okay?"

"Don't worry Garcia, we're all fine. I've checked in with everyone else and we're all going to hold tight and wait for the power to come back on."

"And Reid…?"

"He's a little freaked out but all right."

"Ok, I just had to check on my little chickadees. I won't waste too much of your phone battery. But JJ – be extra careful, okay?"

"Is there something I don't know about?"

"Just, you're dealing with a crazy man who enjoys abducting and killing women – be careful in the dark, okay?"

"I can take care of myself, Garcia."

"I know, I just worry."

"Thanks for the concern. I'm not alone – Reid's here with me. I'll be fine."

Finally, JJ was able to go back to Reid. Turning around, she saw he had taken a seat in the surgical waiting area. He seemed much calmer than he had originally. Sitting down next to him, she asked

"How are you doing?"  
"Better – thanks."

"Anything I can do?"  
"No."

There was a momentary, awkward pause before Reid said

"Hey, JJ … thanks."

"For what?"

"The guys would have just made fun of me – that I'm an adult and still afraid of the dark. I can practically hear Morgan laughing from here. But you didn't do that. You were just…just…nice."

"Oh! Spence! That's so sweet." And then, hoping to change the subject, JJ said, "I saw an episode of Star Trek on TV the other day and I thought of you."

"Really? Which one?"

It seemed to be working. Talking about Star Trek distracted Reid from being afraid. JJ's goal was to keep Reid talking long enough so he wouldn't notice how long he had been in the dark. At first, she thought it might be hard to find topics they both could relate to, resigned she would probably have to listen to him babbling about statistics and sci-fi. Once they started talking, however, it turned out they had no trouble conversing over Star Trek, butterflies, literature, sports (JJ's athletic ability and Reid's lack thereof), old movies, and anything else they could think of. Before they knew it, an hour had gone by and Hotch was calling to check in with JJ.

"Okay, so I think we should…"

Hotch never got to finish his sentence because at that moment the lights went back on. Machines all around the hospital began buzzing and JJ could hear the cheers from the people all around, on both ends of the phone. It was over as suddenly as it had began, and people rapidly turned off flashlights and returned to their normal activities, almost as if the blackout hadn't occurred at all.

"Well then, as I was saying," Hotch continued. "Now that the power's been restored let's get back to work."

Hanging up with Hotch, JJ and Reid walked back to the precinct to continue looking through the old casefiles and build the geographical profile. As they walked in silence, enjoying the light illuminating from streetlamps and store windows, they smiled at each other, both secretly grateful for their moment of bonding.

At the door to the police station, Reid stopped. He drew in a deep breath, looked at JJ and said, "here goes nothing."

Together, the two friends walked through the doors to help catch a killer.


End file.
